Freezing temperatures hit us like a brick wall this week! However, since mother nature likes to think she has a sense of humor, she’s making it 70 degrees on Thursday. Keepin’ us on our toes.

For the time being, nothing warms you up like some poutine!

My beautiful friends and I were on a mission to eat poutine from Saus— one of the foods on the bucket list that Rachel and I are determined to complete by graduation.

If you’re not familiar with poutine, it’s a Montreal specialty that involves French fries covered in gravy and cheese curds. It sounds repulsive, but ohhhh man, it is delicious umami delight.

Three of us shared a regular order topped with bacon and stout-braised beef, but I’m 99% sure they gave us pork belly instead. We didn’t complain.

I also ate something a little more nutritious—the lemongrass chicken in a whole wheat pita with “Pindasaus” (peanut sauce). So good!

Thank you so much to Lauren’s dad for treating us! We and our college student wallets are grateful.

Other things from the weekend included…

My lovely friend Fiona’s pass-in review for Army ROTC!

street show watching

a trip to Whole Foods for two jars of peanut butter, two boxes of peanut butter Puffins cereal, and two tubs of Greek yogurt. #Alison’sArk

THIS.

Moves and grooves. I haven’t talked about them very much recently, huh?

This whole summer, I took it easy in terms of exercise in order to get my cycle started— only doing some bodyweight strength exercises, yoga, handstands, Pilates, and walking. I gained 10-15 pounds, felt more energized, and most importantly, started feeling more comfortable in my body than ever before.

After I messed up at the gynecologist office here in Boston, I finally got my lab work done and the results soon followed. The results evidenced that there’s nothing wrong with me so far. I know this doesn’t really say anything about something like hypothalamic amenorrhea (if that’s what I have), but being well past a healthy BMI and a very healthy body fat percentage, I just don’t have a clue what’s up. I apparently just need to give my body more time, but in the meantime, I have been exercising more (while making sure to fuel even more).

I mentioned several weeks ago that I’ve been participating in modern dance class twice a week as a physical education class, and I am loving it. I had forgotten how happy dance makes me. The dance class is definitely a step up from what I was doing this summer, in terms of intensity. I’ve also been working out at the gym once a week and doing some bodyweight/yoga workouts whenever I feel like it.

Now, I completely understand if this raises concerns about my whole amenorrhea situation, but in 100% honesty, my workout “regimen” (if you can call it that) is keeping me sane and happy amidst schoolwork and activities. Additionally, my attitude towards working out has transformed in the past year.

Just last year, I would often force myself to go to the gym, even if that meant sacrificing sleep. This year, I work out if I have the time and energy.

Last year, I would take a substantial amount of time to think about the workouts I should do that day/week. This year, I am completely going with the flow.

Last year, I would do high intensity workouts multiple times a week. Yesterday, I did burpees for the first time in four months and I will probably keep those HIIT workouts to once a week, if at all.

Last year, I would get anxious at the prospect of missing a workout. This year, I think about exercise, but stress is no longer an automatic response to the thought.

Last year, I would set a timer for myself to do some air squats, pushups, or burpees every 20 minutes if I was studying for a long time. This year, I don’t do that. I do like standing while studying still, but that has to do with my antsy-ness, not fitness.

Last year, I would do workouts that didn’t make me happy. This year, I have never loved exercise so much, because I allow myself to do what genuinely makes me feel good.

Last year, I would kinda-sorta monitor my body. This year, I’m only monitoring how healthy and energetic I feel.

Last year, I was still somewhat obsessed with working out. This year, I’m finally not.

To give you an idea of what a week of workouts looks like these days, here are moves and grooves from last week and this week so far:

So that’s my update for you. My next gynecologist appointment is next month, so we’ll see what that brings. At this point, I really don’t know what’s wrong with my lady system. For now, I’m moving and grooving, but with a healthier mindset than ever…in my entire life.

Thank you for all your support and understanding in this ever-changing journey. It’s pretty crazy how recovery unfolds itself more, even when you think you’re already at a great place.

I did not get to put up another post last week, but that’s the outcome I was sensing since I had a big psych test on Friday AND there were so many other fun things happening when I wasn’t studying. I’ll just get right into it, because the meat of this post just speaks for itself.

Best Friend Surprise

Someone very special decided to be awesome and sneaky on Tuesday…

I’m the most clueless doofus out there, but…Daliza was in Boston.

Shoutout to my roommate Jordan for helping Daliza make this crazy surprise happen! They went through this whole complicated process to get me to come out at the right time and place so that Daliza could surprise me. You don’t get to see it in this video, but I started crying. As I do. I was utterly shocked and ecstatic that Daliza was here at Boston University to visit me!

Ben Turns 21

After chillin’ with my Mexican sister from another mister for a few precious hours before she headed back to NY (yes, she came all the way up to Boston just for a day— dedication ♥), I joined my family in the evening for dinner to celebrate bro-Ben’s 21st! #boozeTues

We went to an upscale Southern restaurant called Hungry Mother, and it was wonderfully rich and comforting. It’s awesome that they use local ingredients and change up their menu every day too! They have a prix fixe menu option, so we all chose that (mom and I shared) and essentially ordered everything on the petite menu to share.

All the plates were on the small side, so it was a perfect tasting evening. If the plates were any bigger, I might have ended up blowing up from water retention. That food was pretty heavy on the salt and fat (as expected from a Southern-inspired restaurant), but it was delicious for sure! My favorites were the beet and scallop salad and the yogurt cheesecake.

Hope you had a marvelous birthday, bro! I can’t believe you can consume alcohol legally now. We were drinking milk from sippy cups, like, yesterday?

School.

Tests, labs, essays, tour guide training, REGISTRATION FOR CLASSES.

It’s like the Hunger Games trying to register for classes. You have to strategize, have a backup plan, prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Everyone wants the same classes as you, so you have to pounce on that ish.

My friends and I also had tour guide training all day on Saturday, which was kind of draining (especially since we had to walk outside for two hours in the frigid air that cut through my soul), but I’m totally looking forward to giving tours next semester! If any of you high schoolers are thinking about Boston University….!!!

More Birthdays (and sweets)

Besides celebrating bro-Ben’s birthday, I also joined in the celebration of my friend Christina’s birthday on Thursday!

She’s 19 and fabulous (and she has a killer opera voice). Our friend Cori made a huge batch of eggless cookie dough, which we all very much appreciated. Then I went to a Students for Life club meeting, where there was pumpkin and NY cheesecake made by the wonderful Cecilia.

My friends are going to give me diabetes.

We also celebrated friend-Ben’s birthday on Saturday! A bunch of us watched him and two other friends do the legendary Rhett’s challenge, which is trying to eat 8 GIANT scoops of ice cream, a triple bacon cheeseburger, a large side of fries, and a large root beer within 30 minutes.

My friends are going to vicariously give me diabetes.

They did not complete the challenge, but that’s really okay. It was actually difficult to watch them try to down that food. Daily Moves and Grooves does not condone these kinds of challenges.

Cold Weather

It’s finally upon us, which means it’s time to break out the mom jacket.

Would you believe me if I said I’ve had this jacket since 6th grade? It fits a lot better now.

Hi, Connor and Louis!

It’s not even that cold yet for Boston standards. When we’re back here in February, I might have to risk looking like a robber by walking around in a ski mask so my face doesn’t fall off.

And that’s IT, friends! 8 more days until Thanksgiving break. I can almost taste it.

One downside to the white stuff is the lack of road space. There are already those people that park on the narrow side streets, and now the buildup of snow is slowly bottlenecking the roads storm after storm. The polar bears should just come live in New York. There are enough glaciers here now.

2. I miss burpees. Yeah. Ever since making the commitment to myself to keep my workouts low in intensity, I have not done burpees in the context of a workout. I have done some for fun here and there when I’m taking a study break or something, but I’m feeling a little burpee withdrawal…?

3. That being said, I am still doing some strength-focused bodyweight exercises right now. I’ve found that the extra strength training definitely makes a positive difference in how I dance. Yesterday I did this new leg exercise because I wanted to mix things up a bit: single leg squat holds on a BOSU.

I probably looked like a shaking leaf on that thing, but it was a great challenge!

4. Winter sports look so treacherous. Pairs skating lifts, snowboarding/skiing wipeouts (we just watched Kelly Clark take a major blow on the half pipe— yikes)…even speed skating. Blades are flyin’ everywhere, and I’m terrified that someone is going to trip over someone else. You’d think I would be a little more chill since I used to be a figure skater, but I’ve had some scary falls myself…that weren’t even that bad, relatively speaking.

5. On a similar note, the figure skating commentators are drama queens. As soon as one skater falls, one says, “Wow. That was just disastrous. So unfortunate.” Two minutes later, another one chimes in saying, “Knowing their dream has vanished, they’re still skating with all their hearts.” And then on the last fall: “If you’re gonna go down, you might as well go down swingin’.” “Yep, that was a big swing.”

“After the humiliation of being shut out in Vancouver, the Russians get first and second!”

I mean, these comments are pretty true, but I just get a kick out of how dramatic they can sound.

6. I’m ready for peach season(and anything summery, come to think of it). I told Davida that I wanted her to make a healthy version of peach cobbler, and now I can’t stop thinking about it.

7. I’m going on a college visit this weekend for an admitted students’ day— let the discerning truly begin! I’ll be back with more details about the visit on Monday.

8. Oh, I did this yesterday.

I was debating going home and napping or just working out and napping later (knowing there would be a snow day today), and when the intersection to turn either way approached, I chose the gym. But then I got there and wanted to sleep. I’m a terrible decision-maker. Did I just go home then? Eh, I was already there, so I just took a 20 minute snooze and that did the trick. I didn’t even care if people passed by my car and judged me.

9. Speaking of which, I’m sleepy. I’ll sign off here on the elusive #9. Hope you have a wonderful Thursday!

So tell me:

What is one form of exercise that you miss when you take a break from it for a while?

What summery things are you craving? Or wintery things if you’re in the southern hemisphere?

It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve joined Amanda’s Thinking Out Loud linkup, so I’m more than glad to be joining it this week!

1. Today is our first full day of school this week. It’s weird. As fun as it is to stay at home all day, I kind of want to get back into a routine, especially since our winter break is in less than two weeks. If we keep having snow days, there will be no sense of differentiation and sheer joy once break comes around, ya know?

2. I never used to like Twitter because it stressed me out. All I saw were these random thoughts to absorb (….like this post….), and I just never cared for it that much. Up until 3.5 days ago, I really only used Twitter as a means to share my own blog posts or others’ blog posts. However, if you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed that I’ve stepped up my game.

I don’t know what got to me but the Twitter fever is gettin’ real. Or I’m gettin’ obnoxious. It’s guatever either way.

3. Staying on the topic of social media— Facebook users, do you love those new story videos like I do?? I mean, I just clicked on the link and then there was a cute little video that summed up some of my favorite pictures and statuses on Facebook. Honestly, I almost cried when I was watching my friend’s video. The music, the pictures, and the nostalgia was all too sweet to handle. I’m not sensitive or anything. Nice job, Mark Z.!

4. I’m wearing shorts right now (while also wearing a sweatshirt), which shows that I want it to be spring pretty badly apparently. Oh, and Dad just asked me to go outside to get the mail…I’m up for the challenge. (Just kidding, he went to go get it before me. Thanks for saving my legs from freezing, pa!)

5. If you’re a fan of witty and funny things, I highly recommend this blog called I Think in Comics. The author is actually my brother’s friend from Northeastern University, so college students would especially appreciate her humor. I literally laugh out loud every time I read her posts. She is such a talented cartoonist. She’s also Asian, and Asians rule.

6. I had my first kale salad ever yesterday, and it was pretty good! I don’t mind the bitter flavor like some others might, so I ate it raw. I just massaged in some maple dijon dressing and added salmon and brussels sprouts. It’s definitely more of a jaw workout when eating kale rather than spinach (maybe I needed to massage it more), but I hope to experiment a little more with the most famous green in the HLB world.

Buttered parmesan potato bread on the side 😀

7. I am currently obsessed with this song by The Jakes (aka former Young the Giant). Thanks to my friend Daliza for introducing this ear candy to me. 😉

8. I wish scones could keep longer, but the truth is that they get crusty and dry if not eaten the day they’re made. Warming them up in a damp paper towel helps a wee bit, but they’re still not to their highest scone potential.

9. Would anyone happen to know a possible cause for a grinding shoulder joint? That sounds really nasty, but for the longest time, my left shoulder has not only been tight, but whenever I roll it or circle my arm, there is a grinding sensation (and sound). Like, there’s no lubrication for the joint. It doesn’t really hurt though, and my right shoulder is fine. All I know is that it hurts when I sleep on my left side (which my body just loves to do while I’m sleeping). I haven’t been lifting weights recently either, but the grinding did start before I stopped lifting.

According to Google, this problem may result in not being able to move my shoulder ever again. Cooooool. I feel like Jo in that every Google diagnosis I find makes me think my body is falling apart.

10. Andddd you probably don’t care about my shoulder issues. That’s okay, because I obviously didn’t care enough to bring it up until several months after the problem started….I hope you all have a wonderful day! Stay safe and warm (watch out for the black ice)!

So tell me:

Do you like using Twitter?

Are you a fan of kale?

Do you have any similar joint issues? Any idea why my shoulder is grinding?

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Hey there! I'm Alison and welcome to Daily Moves and Grooves!
Technical stuff: 23 years old, third year Physical Therapy student at Boston University, from New York.
Fun stuff: I am the person that actually dances like nobody is watching, even when people are watching. I don't eat nut butter; I inhale it. I have a crooked pinky. I [strive to] love God more than anything else ever.
"Let them praise him with dancing" -Psalm 149:3

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Disclaimer

Disclaimer: All posts, opinions, and photos are my own (unless otherwise noted).
I DO NOT post everything I eat. I merely post some of the good eats I'm noshing on throughout the day. I am also not an expert in fitness, so please be careful with exercise! Consult the pros.
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